The Copy Right Act 1987 provides a framework for the protection of copy right and enforcement through civil redress, as well as outlines the powers granted to state authorities for the enforcement of copy right and prosecution of copy right offences. The Copy Right Amendment Act 2012 (“2012 Amendment Act”) came into operation on 1st March 2012. The following is a summary of some of the amendmentspursuant to the 2012 Amendment Act ...
The members of the National Privacy Commission (NPC) have been named. President Benigno Aquino III has appointed Raymond Liboro as the Commissioner of the National Privacy Commission. Prior to his appointment, Liboro was the officer-in-charge of the Department of Science and Technology's Science and Technology Information Institute. The following are the Deputy Privacy Commissioners: Dondi Mapa and Ivy Patdu ...
A company that obtains information from a number of competitors (for example, to create industry statistics or to provide price comparisons) should be careful not to facilitate the flow of confidential information between those competitors. Two recent cases highlight the potential competition law issues. We will then look at some practical considerations to keep in mind ...
On February 1, 2016, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) published the Winter 2015 issue of Supervisory Insights. Not surprisingly, the first article dealt with the most important issue facing the financial industry today – cybersecurity ...
On 15.12.2015 EU Commission, Council and Parliament agreed on the final terms of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in their trialogue negotiations. It is generally expected that the draft will be adopted soon, in any event not later than summer 2016. This ends the uncertainty about the content of the new European Data Protection law which will be directly applicable in all Member States two years after the adoption by Commission, Council and Parliament ...
On December 27th, 2015, Anti-Terrorism Law of People's Republic of China has been passed and promulgated on the eighteenth session of the 12th NPC Standing Committee, whose aim is to combat terrorism, safeguard national security and public safety (hereinafter referred to as "Anti-Terrorism Law "). The Anti-Terrorism Law will take effect since January 1st, 2016. Terrorist activities severely jeopardize public security and it is everyone’s hope to eradicate it ...
Since mid-February, there has been an ongoing debate in the public sphere regarding the high profile case that found the global IT giant Apple and FBI on opposite sides of the legal spectrum. The case's background involves the 2015 San Bernardino shooting incident in USA, and the fact that one of the perpetrators was in possession of an iPhone potentially containing relevant information for the ensuing investigation ...
Since mid-February, there has been an ongoing debate in the public sphere regarding the high profile case that found the global IT giant Apple and FBI on opposite sides of the legal spectrum. The case's background involves the 2015 San Bernardino shooting incident in USA, and the fact that one of the perpetrators was in possession of an iPhone potentially containing relevant information for the ensuing investigation ...
Although many of us still wonder at a drone cruising the sky, it has become relatively common to see these devices around. Drones are used for commercial, industrial, marketing and informational purposes, and also for pure fun and enjoyment. Drones, technically referred to as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), are now part of our lives. As many other aspects of day-to-day life, there is a regulation in Guatemala that applies to drones, though it is scarcely known by the general public ...
The Finnish Criminal Code has been recently amended to combat cybercrime more effectively. The Criminal Code now takes a tougher stance against cybercrime by amending certain provisions, introducing completely new provisions and more severe penalties. The amendments entered into force 4 September 2015. From now on, cybercrime offences, such as illegal data interference and identity theft, can be found under their own titles in the Criminal Code ...
The Philippine section of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Patents 2016 was contributed by SyCipLaw partners Enrique T. Manuel and Vida M. Panganiban-Alindogan. The chapter includes patent enforcement, patent amendment, licensing, patent term extension, patent prosecution and opposition, border control measures, antitrust law and inequitable conduct and current developments in relation to patents ...
In this article, we provide a brief overview of the most important new rules applicable to Hungarian data protection laws after 1 October 2015. BCRs accepted after 1 October 2015 Binding corporate rules (BCR) have so far not been recognized by Hungarian law and, thus, could not be used whenever personal data were transferred to a non-EEA country ...
Writer, Margaret Rouse, describes a social media policy as “a corporate code of conduct that provides guidelines for employees who post content on the internet, either as part of their job or as a private person”. Underestimating the significance of a sound social media policy may lead to dire consequences for an organisation ...
Earlier this year, the UK government launched 'Tech Nation'; an interactive data project that shows the growth of digital businesses within specific areas/regions across the UK. The report is the first of its kind and ranked Belfast as the second highest region in the UK in terms of the highest average company turnover in this sector, with Greater Manchester securing the top spot and Sheffield, Inner London and South Wales coming third, fourth and fifth respectively ...
In this age of social networks, the dividing line between private life and public life seems more and more blurred. The same is true of the boundary between individuals' personal and professional lives. Indeed, headlines in the past few weeks remind us that the personal and professional aspects of an individual's life can sometimes become confused, at great cost to the individual ...
When Congress passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, the elimination of the Sustainable Growth Rate—the so-called “Doc Fix”—received most of the attention. The fact that Congress had officially waded into the quagmire of health information technology interoperability, however, went largely unnoticed ...
At first glance, "net neutrality" may seem a natural principle for the internet environment. This expression, however, gives rise to sometimes divergent interests and some concerns. As a general concept, net neutrality means an open Internet, through which consumers would be able to make their own choices about the content they wish to access and share, as well as the services and applications they want to use ...
When copyright has been infringed online, what court is competent to hear and decide the case? The EU top court’s recent ruling provides clarity and states that online infringement cases can be heard where the infringing content is accessible. The content right holders will be able to take legal action against the infringer in their home countries, but only regarding damage that occurred there ...
This week, I caught up with patent attorneys Jonathan D’Silva and Bryan Walker of MacDonald Illig Jones & Britton, LLP to hear their perspectives on some key strategic intellectual property (IP) legal issues ...
The Minister of Communications and Informatics issued Regulation No. 19 of 2014 on Controlling Internet Websites Containing Negative Content (Regulation 19). Regulation 19 has been in force since 17 July 2014. This regulation aims to implement “the safe and healthy use of the internet” by all social groups by blocking access to websites that contain pornographic or unlawful material (negative content) ...
As noted in our previous client update, judicial rulings on the patent-eligibility of software and business method patents under section 101 of the U.S. Patent Act have run heavily against patent owners since Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. ___, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014). (See 11/17/2014 Client Update). On Friday December 5, 2014, however, the U.S ...
Every day seems to bring word of a new data breach, and given the stakes of these breaches, it would be easy to assume that dealing with the damage they cause would be a top government priority. Unfortunately, a myriad of conflicting state laws, as well as the lack of one over-arching federal law, creates legal and compliance nightmares for companies that these breaches affect. For example, in late February and early March 2014, hackers successfully targeted eBay’s corporate network ...
Nowadays, we live in an information age (also known as the computer age, digital age or new media age) and the advancement of technologies has facilitated information flow and communication through social media. On one hand, people have easy and quick access to others’ information, enabling interaction with one another. However, the free flow of information and wide participation in social media networks also exposes a person to various risks or dangers ...
Judicial rulings on the patent-eligibility of software and business method patents under section 101 of the U.S. Patent Act have run heavily against patent owners since the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 19, 2014 ruling in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. ___, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014). (See Client Update here ...
